Mute-carrier for stringed musical instruments



A. D. GROVER.

MUTE CARREB F08 STHINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. APFLCATlQi ,FILED MAY l1. 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

` 141832,55 1 Patented Mal'. 2, 1920.

5 ipk/ENTER #2196 ri l?. (1V/rover,

A. D. GROVER.

MUTE CARRIER FOR ASTRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY I7, 191B.

1,332,55 1 Patented Mar. 2, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ALBERT D. GRovEn, or NEW Yoan, N. Y.

MUTE-CARRIER FOR STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 2, 1920.

Application filed May 17, 1918. Serial No. 235,077.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT D. GRovER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mute- Carriers for Stringed Musical Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a mute adjustably mounted on the tailpiece of a musical string instrument-such as a banjo, violin, and so forthin such a way that the mute may be readily moved into and out of contact with the top of the bridge of the instrument. The mute is made of suitable material and so constructed that the free end thereof presses down on the bridge, thereby softening the tone of the instrument without impairing its quality.

While mutes have heretofore been attached to instruments like banjos, such mutes were located underneath the head and came into contact with the same directly under the bridge. The effect of mutes of that kind was to deaden the tone of the instrument; they were, therefore, undesirable. This objection is entirely overcome by the mute of my invention, which engages the bridge at the top and softens the tone of the instrument without deadening the same.

My invention may be mechanically carried out in a number of ways. In its broad aspect, the mute of my invention comprises a member adjustably mounted on the tailpiece and having a free end adapted to be readily moved into and out of contact with the top of the bridge. This member is preferably made of spring metal, or it may be constructed in a rigid form and be springactuated, so that the free end thereof will be pressed lirmly against the top of the bridge. For use in violins, the member is preferably made of wood.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown several embodiments of my invention for the sake of illustration.

In these drawings,

Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of a string instrument-such as a banjo-sshowing the imite mounted on the tailpiece and in position on the bridge;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, with the mute-carrying cover of the tailpiece thrown back' Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a tailpiece provided with another form of mute, the latter being shown in operative position in full lines;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of still another form of mute attached to the tailpiece;

Fig. 6 shows in plan view a form of mute mounted on a tailpiece by means of an adj ustable clip;

Fig. 7 is a section on line 7-7 of Fig. 6, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 8 is a transverse cross-section on line 8 8 of Fig. 6, looking in the direction of the arrows.

For the sake of illustration, let it be assumed that the musical instrument shown in the drawings is a banjo. As is common in the construction of such instruments, the circular rim 1 carries the parchment head 2 which is held in place by the hoop 4. The headed screw 5 passes into the stick 6. The screw 5 carries the bolt 6 to which is connected the tailpiece indicated as a whole by T. This tailpiece may be of any approved construction. The speciiic form of tailpiece has nothing to do with my new mute attachment it being only necessary that the tailpiece be of such construction as to` permit the mounting thereon of the mute. To illustrate the use of my invention, I have shown in the drawings a tailpiece like that which forms the subject-matter of my copending application, Serial No.210,756,filed January 7, 1918. It will not, therefore, be necessary for me to go in to the details of construction of the tailpiece T. It will be sufficient to say here that the tailpiece T is provided with lugs 7 to which the ends of the strings 8 are attached. The strings 8 pass by the lugs 9 and then over the usual bridge 10. The tailpiece T is also provided with a cover 11 hinged to the tailpiece at 12. The cover 11 extends over the strings 8 and at its free end 13 it exerts a pressure on the strings, at a point near the bridge of they instrument. The cover 1]. is held in place by any suitable means, such as a clamp 14 which is slidably mounted on the base plate 15 of the tailpiece. The cover 11 is provided with notches 16 which permit the cover' to be thrown bafk when the clamp 14 is moved into alinement with the notches. p

In the preferred form of my invention. as shown in- Figs. l, 2 and 3, the mute of my invention consists of an arm 17 of suitllO able spring metal, so mounted on the tailpiece T as to be slidable into and out of engagement with the top ofthe bridge 10. In the drawings, the means for so mounting the spring arm 17 is shown as a headed stud 18 mounted on the cover 11 of the tailpiece and arranged to engage in the longitudinal slot 19 of the spring arm 17. The rear portion 2O of the arm 17 extends 'through an opening in the offset portion 21 of the cover, as best shown in Fig. 8. Figs. 1 and 3 show the mute 17 in operative position. That is to say, in such position that the free end thereof engages the top of the bridge 10. Since the arm 17 is made of spring metal, the flexing of this metal when the mute engages the bridge will cause the free end of the arm 17 to bear down on top of the bridge with a firm yieldable pressure. This produces a softening of the tone of the instrument, but without deadenino' the same. I have found in actual practice, that a mute like that shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, will soften the tone of a banjo to a sonorous guitar quality. The tones are as clear and ringing as when no mute is used, except that they have the desired degree of softness.

When it is desired to play without the mute 17, all that the player has to do is to shift the same backwardly into the position shown by the dotted lines 17 in Fig. 1. rThe mute is guided in its sliding movement by the stud 18 engaging inthe slot 19 and by the rear portion 2O engaging in the slot of the cover 11, so that the mute may be slid with perfect freedom into and out of operative position. The mute 17 does not interfere with the cover 11 of the tail piece being thrown back, as shown in Fig. 2.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a mute in the form of a bar 22 pivoted at one end on the stud 23 of the cover 11. The free end of the bar 22 preferably carries a linger-piece 24 by means of which the mute is swung into and out of operative( position. In this ligure, the mute is shown in full lines in operative position, and in its inoperative position by the dotted lines 22.

In Fig. 5 the mute has the form of a bar or arm 25 pivoted by means of the stud 26 to the cover 11 of the tailpiece. A springblade 27, secured to the cover 11 at 28, engages the enlargement 29 of the arm 25 and thus forces the free end of the arm 25 against the bridge. To throw the arm 25 out of muting position, it is only necessary to swing the same back to the position indicated by the dotted lines 25. The spring 27 holds the bar 25 under pressure in either position and thereby prevents rattling of the same during the playing.

Instead of mounting the mute permanently on the tailpiece, as shown in Figs. 1 to 5, Iv may mount the same in such a way that it can be readily applied to or removed from the tailpiece. This would be convenient where a player had already purchased a tailpiece and wanted to provide the same with one of my mutes. In that case, the mute, as shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8, would fulfil the purpose. In these figures, the arm 30 is mounted on a clip which may be constructed in various ways. In the drawings I have shown this clip as consisting of a pair of members 31 connected together by a Cross-pin 32 on which the bar or arm 30 is mounted. The clip members 31 are provided with inwardly extending flanges 38 by means of which the clip is slidably mounted on the cover 11 of the tailpiece, as best shown in Fig. 8. To mount the clip 81 on the cover 11 of the talpiece, it is only necessary to throw the cover 11 back, place the clip 31 opposite the recess 16 of the cover, whereupon the clip may be slid toward the free end of the cover, and then the cover is clamped in place by means of the slidable clamp 11, previously referred to. The arm 31 is provided with a suitable spring 3-1 which holds the arm against rattling when out of contact with the bridge 10. The pressure of the free end of the arm 30 on the bridge 10 is. regulated by the adjustable set screw 35 carried at the rear end of the arm 30. To put themute 30 out of operative position, the player need only give the screw 35 a few turns in such a direction that the free end of the mute 30 will be lifted out of contact with the bridge 10.

It will be seen from the foregoing that I have provided an exceedingly simple, useful and eliicient mute for string instruments. While I have herein shown certain mechanical embodiments of my invention, I would have it undertsood that I have done so merely for the sake of illustration and not by way of limitation of my invention. It is obvious that the basic principle of my invention may be mechanically carried out in other ways than those shown and described.

`When I refer to my mute as a springmember, I do not mean a member constructed of spring material, but generally a member constructed to engage the top of the bridge with a more or less spring pressure. This may be accomplished either by the mute being made of yieldable material such as spring metal, or, if the mute arm is rigid, as shown for instance in Fig. 5, it is held against the top of the bridge by yieldable means such as a spring. As a matter of fact, the tailpiece T has more or less spring to it, and so the mute itself may be a substantially rigid member, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, but still the free end of the mutearm 30 may properly be said to bear upon the bridge with a spring pressure. All of these different constructions I mean to includeby the broad descriptive term springmember.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. A banjo, or like instrument, having a tailpiece, to which the strings are attached, a spring arm slidably mounted on the tailpiece and having a free end arranged to be readily shifted into and out of contact with the top of the bridge, said arm automatically remaining in either of its shifted positions until manually operated into` the other position, and cooperating means on said tailpiece and said arm for limiting the sliding movement of said arm.

2. A banjo, or like instrument, having a tailpiece to which the strings are attached, a movable cover carried by said tailpiece and extending over the strings toward the bridge and a member adjustably mounted on said cover and movable therewith, said member having a free end arranged to be readily moved into and out of contact with the top of the bridge, said member automatically remaining in either of its actuated positions until manually operated into the other position.

3. A banjo, or like instrument, having a tailpiece to which the strings t re attached, a cover adjustably mounted on said tailpiece and extending over the strings toward the bridge, a stud carried by said cover, and a member adjustably mounted on said stud and having a free end adapted to be moved into contact with the top of the bride, so that said free end bears down on the bridge with a spring pressure to soften the tone of the instrument, said free end being readily moved out of contact Iwith the bridge.

t. A banjo, or like instrument, having a tailpiece to which the strings are attached, an arm slidably mounted on said tailpiece and having a free end adapted to be shifted forwardly into contact with the top of the bridge, so that said freeend bears down on the bridge with a spring pressure to soften the tone 0f the instrument, said free end being readily shifted lback out'of contact with the bridge.

5. A banjo, or like instrument, having a tailpiece to which the strings are attached, a movable cover carried by said tailpiece and extending over the strings toward the bridge, and an arm slidably mounted on said cover and movable therewith, said arm having a free end arranged to be readily shifted into and out of Contact with the top of the bridge.

6. A banjo, or like instrument, having a tailpiece to which the strings are attached, a cover hinged to said tailpiece and extending over the strings toward the bridge, a stud carried by said cover, and an arm having a slot engaging said stud, whereby said arm isV adjustable into and out of contact with the top of the bridge.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 16th day of May, 1918.

ALBERT D. GROVER. 

